It
takes courage to openly state what the International Monetary Fund's
researchers are saying. Such a statement would have been inconceivable
five years ago.

Nitzan Horowitz May 31, 2016

Only
a few minutes’ stroll along Pennsylvania Avenue separates the massive
complex of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund from the much
smaller White House. Perhaps the size difference symbolizes the relative
degree of importance and the center of gravity: the economic
headquarters are the real fulcrum of power; the White House is for
tourists.

Ever since these two economic institutions were founded
at the end of World War II, they’ve affected people’s lives far more
than any U.S. president or the prime minister of any country. The IMF
and World Bank are not only powerful executive instruments; they’re also
ideological bodies. For more than 70 years, they’ve served as the most
effective disseminator of a clear political ideology: the rule of
capital. This is why what’s just happened can be likened to an
earthquake.

Senior economists at the IMF, not usually people
suspected of having a shred of sympathy for social ideals, have dropped a
bombshell. “Neoliberalism: Oversold?” – a report published in the IMF’s
flagship magazine – determines that the neoliberal approach, which has
shaped the world for the last two generations, has failed. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.722368

How Conservatives and Progressives Will Work Together Next Year

After the election, we are
likely to continue to have a divided government. That most likely means
more gridlock. So the question is: What will policymaking look like
beyond 2017?

Some are quick to point out that
given the heightened partisanship and the rise of issue polarization,
the new administration will have a tremendously hard time advancing any
legislation, and that Americans are likely to see very little getting
done as animosity trumps either side’s agenda.

America’s Sinkhole Wars

by Andrew J. Bacevich
We have it on highest authority: the recent killing of Taliban leader
Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan marks
“an important milestone.” So the president of the United States has
declared, with that claim duly echoed and implicitly endorsed by media
commentary — theNew York Times reporting, for example, that Mansour’s death leaves the Taliban leadership “shocked” and “shaken.”
But a question remains: A milestone toward what exactly? http://lobelog.com/americas-sinkhole-wars/#more-34376

Argument for this being right? “Our personality is determined by our DNA and reflected in our face."

This
is deeply deeply disturbing on so many levels. Not just for the obvious
reasons (a Pandora’s Box legally, academically — particularly in the
social sciences, morally, etc.) , but also because Homeland Security
has been convinced enough to buy the equipment. With an 80% success
rate, i.e., 20% are identified as terrorists or pedophiles incorrectly,
but consequently their lives and careers ruined.

Eugenics. It’s back in a digital form. By the Israelis no less.

Israeli Firm Claims It Can Tell If You’re a Terrorist By Looking At Your Face

Milestones (Or What Passes for Them in Washington) A Multi-Trillion-Dollar Bridge to Nowhere in the Greater Middle East By Andrew J. Bacevich
We have it on highest authority: the recent killing of Taliban leader
Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan marks
“an important milestone.” So the president of the United States has
declared, with that claim duly echoed and implicitly endorsed by media
commentary -- the New York Times reporting, for example, that Mansour’s death leaves the Taliban leadership “shocked” and “shaken.”
But a question remains: A milestone toward what exactly?
Click here to read more of this dispatch. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176147/tomgram%3A_andrew_bacevich%2C_america's_sinkhole_wars/#more

May 31, 2016
One thing that has become obvious in the presidential campaign is
that trade is front and center as an issue. For those of us who have
spent our professional careers working on the subject, this ought to be
good news. Finally "our" issue is getting the attention it deserves.
Unfortunately, this is a classic case of "be careful what you wish for."
We are not having a high-minded debate about trade policy. Rather, we
are down there in the gutter debating whether U.S. negotiators are
stupid or just incompetent and whether trade agreements are really
nothing more than a race to the bottom.

How did it come to this? It turns out we are experiencing the perfect
storm of trade debates. First, on the Democratic side, this is nothing
new. Trade has been a divisive issue among Democrats for some years. In
2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spent weeks in the industrial
heartland beating each other over the head on who was the bigger trade
skeptic, egged on by organized labor. Once the nomination fight was
over, the issue faded. The Republican nominee John McCain did not make a
big issue of it, and Obama — having established his position — did not
have to. This year has featured a replay between Clinton and Sanders,
but unlike 2008, it is not likely to disappear after the conventions. http://www.stimson.org/content/trades-perfect-storm-0

A prayer for Memorial Day
On Memorial Day, we remember those who died
in service to our country and pray for peace in our world.
As members of the Unbound community, we
serve as harbingers of peace — reaching out across deep divides to people
from different places, races, religions and economic backgrounds. We reach out
seeking equality, justice, opportunity and harmony in our human family.
We long for the day when, as Isaiah
prophesied, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares" and "One nation shall
not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again." (Isaiah
2:4)

Managing Risks in the Russia-United States Conflict

Unlike in
the Cold War, the current Russia-United States confrontation is
asymmetrical, which carries different dangers. Cooperation will remain
limited and Barack Obama’s successor will most likely take a harsher
stance on Russia. The
good news about the two-year-old confrontation between Russia and the
United States is that over the past year it has stabilized and become
the “new normal.” The bad news is that this clash looks set to last, and
is developing into a military-political conflict in Eastern Europe and a
new arms race.
The new standoff is, unlike the Cold War, distinctly asymmetrical.
This time around, the scales are clearly tipped in favor of the United
States. That has caused Russia to overcompensate by raising the stakes,
taking bigger risks, and making sudden moves that wrong-foot its
adversary.
Yet this asymmetry, coupled with a sense of moral superiority, also
leads the United States to underestimate Russia and view it as a state
in progressive decline, interpret the Kremlin’s actions as a bluff, and
keep ratcheting up the pressure. An encounter between a Russian and a
U.S. airplane or between an airplane and a military ship in the Baltic
or Black Sea region could result in the confrontation escalating to a
new and much more dangerous level.http://carnegie.ru/commentary/?fa=63685&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRJNFlXVmtaamxrWmpVMSIsInQiOiJKNlIzK3dTTzRIb1hyY2xlcmx5VDJhdlFGUFJPeG5MME5JRWFVUGNkVzl2M2h0WDc1SldXZjJZWGJLTkpnb2pXSjJZd0hHZjJKWjFVdEhGcnZrZ3ZqaW0zSmJqUWpLcXpwb3RzdTRlbEVVVT0ifQ%3D%3D

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Two Men, Two Legs, and Too Much SufferingAmerica's Forgotten Vietnamese VictimsBy Nick Turse
Nguyen Van Tu asks if I'm serious. Am I really willing to tell his
story -- to tell the story of the Vietnamese who live in this rural
corner of the Mekong Delta? Almost 40 years after guerrilla fighters in
his country threw the limits of U.S. military power into stark relief --
during the 1968 Tet Offensive -- we sit in his rustic home, built of
wood and thatch with an earthen floor, and speak of two hallmarks of
that power: ignorance and lack of accountability. As awkward chicks
scurry past my feet, I have the sickening feeling that, in decades to
come, far too many Iraqis and Afghans will have similar stories to tell.
Similar memories of American troops. Similar accounts of air strikes
and artillery bombardments. Nightmare knowledge of what "America" means
to far too many outside the United States.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176146/best_of_tomdispatch%3A_nick_turse%2C_from_the_missing_archives_of_a_lost_war/#more

Drones and Blowback

by John Feffer
The targeted assassination of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour last weekend wasn’t just another drone strike.
First of all, it was conducted by the U.S. military, not the CIA, which has orchestrated nearly all drone strikes in Pakistan.
Second, it didn’t take place in Afghanistan or in the so-called
lawless tribal region of Pakistan known as the Federally Administered
Tribal Areas, or FATA. The guided missile turned a white Toyota and its two passengers into a fireball on a well-traveled highway in Balochistan, in southwest Pakistan.
Prior to this particular drone strike, Pakistan allowed the United
States to patrol the skies over the northwest region of FATA, a Taliban
stronghold. But President Obama decided to cross this “red line” to take
out Mansour (and a taxi driver, Muhammad Azam, who had the misfortune to be with the wrong passenger at the wrong time).
Pakistani leaders have registered their disapproval. According to former ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman,
“The drone strike is different from all others because it has not only
resumed a genre of kinetic action that is unilateral, but also illegal
and expansionary in its geographical theater of targeted operation.”http://lobelog.com/drones-and-blowback/#more-34358

Friday, May 27, 2016

Recollection and Finding Time View this email online if it doesn't display correctly

Retreat Day 1: Recollection and Finding Time

Recollection
is paying attention to the presence of God in your soul. To “recollect”
is to remember something, and it’s easy to forget God’s presence and
promise when life gets busy. Taking time—making time—for silence and
solitude is one of the best ways to truly recollect God’s love.

In the Catholic tradition, we recognize two types of recollection:

Active
recollection may be acquired by our own efforts aided by the grace of
God. It means creating a habit of thinking about God’s presence in your
life, and in this moment, right here and right now. It means fixing your
attention on God and his presence and perfection.

Passive
recollection doesn’t depend on our own efforts, but is an extraordinary
grace given by God. In this mode of recollection (which mystical
writers see as the first degree of infused contemplation), the Holy
Spirit reaches into you and absorbs your mind and heart into God.

Three things are necessary: solitude, silence and the recollection of the presence of God.

Most of us, most of the time, will engage in active recollection. Here’s what St. Alphonsus Liguori had to say about it:

To preserve recollection of spirit or the constant union of the soul with God, three things are necessary:
solitude, silence and the recollection of the presence of God. It was
these three things which the Angel of God referred to when, addressing
St. Arsenius, he said: "Flee, be silent and rest." In other words: seek
solitude, practice silence, and rest in God by keeping the thought of
His presence ever before you.

It may seem that silence and
solitude don’t have much of a place in modern life. We have telephones
with us constantly; the Internet sucks our time; our families and work
and friendships all make demands on us. Who can “flee, be silent, and
rest”?

When we think about silence and solitude and recollection,
it’s tempting to believe that it would all be easier to do if we lived
in simpler times. It’s tempting to blame our distractions and lack of
time and energy on our century and our location. Yet the reality is that
God called us to be here, in this time
and in this place. God called us into the complicated nexus of the
modern world, and he did so for a reason.

So what is our response?

Perhaps
we can start by making that our offering. God has asked us to dwell in
this world, to sanctify it somehow. To make of all the drudgery and
distractions and lack of time a holy thing, an offering of love. To see
that it is through those very things that God is dwelling inside of us.

We
don’t need to go on retreat to feel God’s presence. We can discern it
in everything around us… including in our own tired, cluttered,
distracted lives. And we can do that with the practice of recollection.

So
take this summertime retreat as a way into really thinking about that
offering. To claim a space of silence and solitude to recognize God
dwelling inside of you (even if it’s only for a precious few minutes a
day!), and then to take the experience of that silence and that solitude
out into the world that God has called you to live in. To remember
it—to recollect it—whenever things feel overwhelming. The more you practice, the more it will be a comfort to you, an energizing touchstone to which you can return again and again. And
the more you practice, the more you’ll be aware of God’s presence with
you all the time, not just in the precious few moments you can set aside
for prayer and reflection.

Before You, Lord, in Prayer

LORD, help me to recollect your presence in my life and my being all the time.

Open
me to the slightest whisper of your voice so that I may go about my
tasks and duties with the knowledge and assurance that I am your servant
in everything I do.

Take my offering of my busyness, my distractions, and my responsibilities and help me to see them in the light of your love. Amen.

Book Suggestions

Father
Jean LaFrance talks a lot about recollection in his book, Pray to Your
Father in Secret. We don’t go to God, he says: it is God who seeks us
out, who calls us to him. Recollection is how you can open yourself up
to God:

"You will become a truly spiritual person—that is, a person of prayer—when you live completely in the present moment.

"We
have within us a secret desire to live in a state of unceasing prayer.
We feel that to live in the presence of God is the source of joy, peace,
and true happiness. If we gathered together all the minutes and hours
we waste each day, we would have plenty of time to pray. Now and then,
take five minutes to stop and rest in inner silence. Focus only on being
that you are there, speechless and motionless, in the presence of the
living God. Throughout your day, never let an hour go by without going deep into your heart in the presence of the Most High. You have frequent opportunities to call upon God for help—cries of love or recognition, even in taking a breath.

"You will be a person of continual prayer if you know how to accept the present moment as a gift of God."

WPR Articles May 23 — May 27

Earlier this month, Rodrigo Duterte, a
tough-talking mayor, emerged as the winner of the Philippines’
presidential election, sparking worries about a dramatic reversal from
his reform-minded predecessor, Benigno Aquino III. But how much will
Duterte’s rhetoric actually translate into reality at home and abroad?

Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark have
found themselves at the center of key security debates in Europe on
growing Russian aggression and the migrant crisis. But can the Nordic
countries translate their geostrategic importance into lasting influence
in NATO and the European Union?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as the country’s defense
minister struck at the very heart of the civilian-military relationship
in Israel, in the process showing once again that there is nothing
Netanyahu won’t do to increase his political advantage.

In late April, on Sierra Leone’s
independence day, police raided the headquarters of the opposition
Sierra Leone People’s Party, firing shots and arresting supporters. In
an email interview, Jimmy Kandeh, a professor at the University of
Richmond, discussed domestic politics in Sierra Leone.

Last weekend, a U.S. military drone killed
Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, as he drove
home from Iran to Pakistan’s Baluchistan province. No one thinks that
killing Mansour will defeat the Taliban, but it might alter the
trajectory of the conflict at least a bit.

Counterterrorism is a growth industry
across large parts of Africa, overshadowing the continent’s other
security challenges. There is a risk that this will initiate an endless
cycle of wars, as African militaries and regional organizations might
inspire further resistance in crushing Islamist groups.

In the wake of declining commodities
revenues, the prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo
proposed a new budget that included cutting government spending by 30
percent. In an email interview, Yvan Yenda Ilunga discussed the effect
of falling commodities prices on the DRC’s economy.

One of President Barack Obama’s most
significant measures to promote commerce with Cuba isn’t working. U.S.
banks can now legally process Cuban transactions with non-U.S. parties,
but banks are refusing to do it. “It turns out it’s easier to impose
sanctions than it is to dismantle them,” admits a U.S. official.

The latest mini-drama in Washington is
centered on whether the Obama administration manipulated the truth about
the Iran nuclear talks to sell the deal to Congress and the public. The
larger story is about how citizens can navigate the complicated
landscape of information, spin and advocacy.

Vladimir Putin’s so-called tilt to Asia
has taken on new importance recently, as Moscow looks eastward for new
economic and diplomatic opportunities. But despite this new push and the
Russia-ASEAN Summit in May, numerous hurdles stand in the way of deeper
Russian engagement with Southeast Asia.

When controversial former Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili was tapped as governor of Ukraine’s
strategic Odessa region last year, he hired a young team to build a
showcase for reform in post-revolutionary Ukraine. But today the
prospects for success seem to be growing dimmer by the day.

Last week, the Malaysian government
announced the creation of a national committee to oversee the
implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In an email interview,
the Malaysian Institute for Economic Research’s Shankaran Nambiar
discussed the potential impact of TPP membership on Malaysia.

Although they are on opposite sides of
Syria’s war, Russia and Saudi Arabia find themselves in similar
positions. Both are presenting themselves as trying in earnest to rein
in their respective proxies, Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the
opposition. Yet neither is willing to put conditions on their support.

The scars of Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long
civil war remain plainly visible in the country’s north. More than half a
decade after the fighting ended, much needs to be done before the
conflict is relegated to the pages of history, allowing Sri Lanka to
work toward a prosperous and stable future.

The symbolism of Obama’s landmark visit to
Hiroshima aside, for many, the U.S.-Japan alliance appears to be a Cold
War artifact. But the strategic bargain struck during the Korean War
serves a far different purpose today, as the U.S. and Japan have
adjusted to new geopolitical currents in Asia.

A key character from the Iraqi insurgency
is back center stage in Baghdad. The re-emergence of Muqtada al-Sadr, a
notorious Shiite cleric, has sparked all manner of coverage. A
toned-down Sadr has gone the political route so far, but his calculus
could change as violence and tension rise in Baghdad.

A new international accord to tackle illegal and under-reported fishing will come into force on June 5.
Under the Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA) governments will be
required to inspect foreign fishing vessels that dock in their ports.
“The vessels themselves have the obligation to ...
MORE >
>

It’s Saturday,
market day at the popular Bvumbwe market in Thyolo district. About 40
kilometers away in Chiradzulu district, a vegetable vendor and mother of
five, Esnart Nthawa, 35, has woken up at three a.m. to prepare for the
journey to the market.
The day before, she went about her village ...
MORE >
>

In a clay pot, Araceli Márquez mixes tiny Mexican freshwater fish known
as charales with herbs and a sauce made of chili peppers, green tomatoes
and prickly pear cactus fruit, preparing a dish called mixmole.
“I learned how to cook by asking people and experimenting,” the
55-year-old divorced ...
MORE >
>

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which has played a key role in ensuring
maternal health and promoting reproductive rights of millions of women
world-wide, is expected to suffer over 0 million in funding cuts by
Western donors this year.
Arthur Erken, Director of the Division of ...
MORE >
>

The humanitarian clock is now ticking away faster than ever, with over
130 million of the world’s most vulnerable people in dire need of
assistance. But the most powerful, richest countries—those who have
largely contributed to manufacturing it and can therefore stop it,
continue to pretend not ...
MORE >
>

While long-awaited new vaccines for malaria and dengue may finally be
within reach, many of the world’s existing vaccines have remained
unreachable for many of the people who need them most.
The recent outbreak of yellow fever in Angola shows how deadly
infectious diseases can return when ...
MORE >
>

The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) held in Istanbul on May 23-24,
managed to send a strong wake-up call to the world about the
unprecedented human suffering now in course, but failed to achieve the
objective of attracting the massive funds needed to alleviate the
humanitarian drama, as none of the ...
MORE >
>

Lack of water management and limited access to data risk hindering
Myanmar’s economic growth, making water security a top priority of the
new government.
Climate change and increased urbanisation, along with earthquakes,
cyclones, periodic flooding and major drought, require an urgent ...
MORE >
>

Putting economic interests over public health is leading the world
towards three slow-motion health disasters, Margaret Chan,
Director-General of the World Health Organization’s warned the world’s
health ministers on Monday.
Changes in the world's climate, the failure of more and more ...
MORE >
>

Plugging Africa’s funding gaps to accelerate social and economic
development requires a fresh approach to using its natural capital,
environment experts said on Monday.
It is time Africa invested billions of dollars - part of the 50 billion
dollars lost through illicit financial flows - in ...
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>

Family farmers in the northern Argentine province of Chaco are gaining a
new appreciation of the common prickly pear cactus, which is now
driving a new kind of local development.
Hundreds of jars of homemade jam are stacked in the civil society
association “Siempre Unidos Minifundios de ...
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>

No mention in the media of the dangerous increase in the tension between
Europe and Russia and yet Nato has just made operational in Romania a
missile system, the ABM, which the United States has declared will
protect it from “rogue” states, like Iran.
Roberto SavioRussia, especially after ...
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>

Abdul Aziz, 35, arrived in the capital Dhaka in 2006 after losing all
his belongings to the mighty Meghna River. Once, he and his family had
lived happily in the village of Dokkhin Rajapur in Bhola, a coastal
district of Bangladesh. Aziz had a beautiful house and large amount of
arable land.
But ...
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>

Two months ago, I was in Agadez, a city in the middle of the famous
Ténéré Desert of Niger. Agadez has become a major transit point on a
hazardous journey for the hundreds and thousands of desperate people
from all over West Africa trying to make it to the Mediterranean coast
every year.
...
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>

While Canada’s long-awaited support for the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples brought hope and celebration last week, it's not
yet clear whether the rights of Indigenous people in developing
countries harmed by Canadian mining companies will also be included.
The Special ...
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>